


jingletown high

by rebelvigilante



Category: American Idiot - Green Day (Album), American Idiot - Green Day/Armstrong
Genre: ADHD, Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - High School, Depression, F/F, F/M, M/M, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, also whatsername's name is rebecca, and ex girl's name is christina, bc they kinda deserve real names yknow, doesn't follow the original plot completely but there's enough that its kinda similar y'know idk, jimmy is real and a dramatic asshole, johnny is trans bc i say so, nobody ends up being straight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-21 08:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30019050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebelvigilante/pseuds/rebelvigilante
Summary: what if everyone was real and alive and went to high school together? shenanigans, mental heath, drugs, relationships, and awkward situations will ensue.
Relationships: Heather/Alysha, Johnny/Tunny/Will, Whatsername/Extraordinary Girl
Kudos: 5





	1. one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, unless we miraculously get some super cool new student, I hate everyone other than you guys and I will not be making any new friends,” Johnny said.

High school. Junior year, to be more specific. One more year left, and they’d finally be free – minus the lingering cloud over every high schooler’s head that was college, but Johnny had already made the decision that he wasn’t going. When he mentioned it to Tunny and Will, they both had been quick to agree. They’d already be spending twelve years of their lives in the school system that didn’t seem to be doing much for them anyway, so why bother with at least four more years? They were about to be young adults, they weren’t going to waste that time of their lives in school. Johnny once tried preaching his ideology to his math class before the bell rang, but the teacher had come in and shut him down real quick – and then proceeded to lecture the class on why college was important. 

The worst thing about junior year so far is that they didn’t have nearly as many classes together. The last two years had been lucky, and they’d only have one or two classes apart – this year, they only had two or three class periods with all three of them. 

“We’re gonna have to make new friends,” Tunny pointed out. It was only their third day back after summer break, but they were used to the back-to-school schedule by now. It was lunch period, which all three of them thankfully shared, and they sat in the back of Tunny’s pickup truck with their lunches. 

“Or,” Will offered, “we could just be miserable. I think I’d rather go with that option.”

Will was the least outspoken one out of the three of them. Tunny would be able to make other friends in his solo classes with absolutely no problem, because he was easy to like when he wanted to be. Johnny was boisterous and sarcastic, so he could fit in with a certain crowd of people if he tried – but he usually didn’t. Will, however, was more shy and introverted and simply didn’t have the desire to make friends. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Johnny being the most stubborn kid in the world, Will probably would’ve floated through all of elementary, middle,  _ and  _ high school without making any friends. 

_ “Or,” _ Johnny spoke up, cigarette smoke blowing into the air as he spoke. “We could just boycott school altogether and drop out.”

“Jesus, my mother would  _ kill _ me,” Will said. “And I’m pretty sure yours would too.”

Johnny shook his head. “Nah, not my mom. Brad might, but he’s bound to kill me at some point anyway. I personally think it’s worth it.”

Tunny punched his shoulder, “My parents would kill me too, probably. Is it worth it to lose both of your best friends?”

“Ugh. No, I guess not,” Johnny grumbled dramatically. “But we could at least, like, start skipping certain classes and hanging out behind the school or something, y’know? Because I hate everyone else.”

Will gave him a look, “You’ve hardly even talked to anyone else, you can’t say you hate them.”

But once Johnny decided he had an opinion, it was practically impossible to change his mind. By now, Tunny and Will had just gotten used to it – they weren’t even sure why they bothered to challenge him anymore, aside from the fact that they were best friends and it only felt natural to pick on each other like that. 

“Well, unless we miraculously get some super cool new student, I hate everyone other than you guys and I will not be making any new friends,” Johnny said. 

  
  


Then Johnny was left feeling  _ really  _ stupid just next week, when a new student was introduced during their jazz band class, which all three of them had together. Tunny and Will had shared a look from across the room when the teacher brought it up, forcing said new student up to the front of the room to introduce himself. 

He was tall and lanky, and he was dressed just like the rest of the Jingletown punks – only cooler. “I’m Jimmy,” he said, when ushered on by the teacher. “But you can call me Saint.”

That was all he had to say. The teacher tried to get him to say more, starting to ask him where he moved from, but Jimmy had already gone to his seat – which was just a few chairs away from Johnny’s – and didn’t appear to be making a move to answer any more questions. 

“You legally have to befriend him now,” Tunny said, as they walked down the hallways after class. He and Will had their next class period together, but Johnny had a class alone. “You said–”

“I know what I said,” Johnny grumbled. “Who says he’s cool, though? That was part of the deal. New kid had to be cool for me to try and make friends with him.”

Will shrugged, “I don’t know, he looked pretty cool. Did you see the way he was dressed? And the way he held himself?”

“Alright, gayass,” Johnny waved his hands in the air. “I’ll talk to him. But  _ only _ if he’s in one of my other classes.”

  
  


Miraculously, Jimmy  _ was _ in one of Johnny’s classes. More specifically, the one right after band class. And as if that wasn’t enough, the teacher assigned Jimmy the seat right next to Johnny’s – so now Johnny didn’t really even have a choice. 

So, once the teacher had her back turned to the class to write something on the board, Johnny scooted his desk closer to Jimmy’s. “Hey,” he said. “I’m Johnny. We just had band together.”

Jimmy gave him a look, almost like Johnny had said something that personally offended him. “What grade are you in?”

“Uh– Junior?”

“Gross,” Jimmy said simply, turning his attention back to whatever he was writing in his notebook. 

He appeared to actually be taking notes. Johnny could never. He didn’t have the attention span for that. Of course, it would’ve helped if he actually took his medicine the way he was supposed to (at least that’s what the doctors and his mom said), but what was the fun in that? The medicine seemed to make things too slow. It was supposed to help him focus to get things done or whatever, but it always just made Johnny feel sluggish and depressed. Or maybe he was always depressed. Whatever. 

Johnny sat back in his seat, but decided not to give up. He needed to shove it in Will’s and Tunny’s faces that he could, indeed, befriend the admittedly pretty cool new kid. As the class period went on, Johnny passed Jimmy notes. They were all just crumbled up pieces of paper with drawings on them, from his failed attempts at taking notes. He just couldn’t sit there and listen to a teacher lecture on and on for a half hour. 

At first, Jimmy ignored the notes. They piled up on the corner of his desk. About halfway through the class, Jimmy finally responded. “You’re probably the most stubborn person I’ve ever met,” he said, sending a glare Johnny’s way. 

“I’ve been told,” Johnny shrugged, not phased.

“Do you even pay attention in class?”

“Do  _ you?” _

Jimmy glanced down at his notes and stifled a laugh. “No,” he admitted, which shocked Johnny. “I’m just better at pretending than you are.”

Johnny nodded. “Right. Well, do you have lunch next period? ‘Cause if you do, you could come sit with me and my friends.”

“Why, you think I don’t have any friends?” Johnny offered a shrug in response. Jimmy stared at him for a moment, then turned his gaze back down to his ‘notes.’ “I do have lunch next period.”

“Well, then, you should–”

The teacher caught him talking, because of course she did. Johnny seemed to always get caught by teachers in the worst possible moments. He’d had a good amount of (unattended) detentions racked up last year. It didn’t help that this teacher in particular already disliked him as it was. “Mr. Armstrong, are you trying to get in trouble already? It’s only your second week back and you’re  _ already _ interrupting class.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and sat back against his chair, arms crossed dramatically across his chest. He sent a brief glare Jimmy’s way when he heard the other snickering at the fact that he got in trouble. Maybe befriending Jimmy  _ wasn’t _ the best option. 


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were an unlikely bunch, which was interesting to him. As someone with little to no real friends, he was pretty good at analyzing other people and their friends.

Jimmy had made sure to book it out of that classroom as soon as the bell rung. Was he going to join Johnny and his friends for lunch? Yeah, probably. But he didn’t need Johnny knowing that right away. 

The thing was that Johnny was right, but Jimmy didn’t want him knowing that. He didn’t have any friends. Not yet, at least. It wasn’t hard for him to make friends, once he found the right crowd. He supposed they were typically more of ‘acquaintances,’ rather than friends – he refused to make actual friends because of how frequently his parents moved them. He’d learned that when he was younger, because he kept making friends and then losing them. You couldn’t lose anything if you didn’t allow yourself to gain anything. His mom (and the many therapists he was forced to visit) told him that he  _ should  _ be making friends, especially since he had a phone and could still keep in contact with them, and perhaps he was still refusing just for spite. 

He hid out in the bathroom for the first ten minutes of the lunch period. He smoked a cigarette in there, and was relieved to have not been caught. He wouldn’t have cared if he was, but things were always easier when he could just avoid getting in trouble all together. He hadn’t brought lunch with him and, after one glance into the cafeteria, basically outright refused to buy one from the school, so he went out to the parking lot empty handed. 

Johnny hadn’t told him where they ate lunch, but Jimmy could read him like a book. He was the type of person who would try to smoke during lunch too, but Johnny was stupid enough to think that going outside would keep him from getting caught. Jimmy didn’t know anything about Johnny’s friends, but he assumed that they would follow along anyway. 

And he was right. Jimmy was hardly ever wrong. As soon as he stepped out to the parking lot, he spotted Johnny sitting in the bed of a truck with two other people – who he quickly recognized as well. 

Despite having not spoken to either of them, Jimmy already knew who they were. They were in band too, and he remembered their names from when the teacher called attendance. He rarely actually paid attention in class, but he made up for it in quickly memorizing the names of the other students in his classes. It made the whole ‘acquaintances’ thing easier – plus, it was easier to lie to parents and therapists about friends when he knew actual names, versus having to pull a random one out of his ass and pretend he knew what he was talking about. 

They were an unlikely bunch, which was interesting to him. As someone with little to no real friends, he was pretty good at analyzing other people and their friends. For example, he could already tell that Johnny was the ‘leader.’ He was the loud one, the one who spoke without thinking, the one who wasn't afraid of anything even if he probably should be. Tunny was the brains – or perhaps the brawn, or perhaps both. Jimmy hadn’t said a single word to him yet, but it was obvious that Tunny was stronger than the other two in one way or another. Both Tunny and Johnny seemed to have a type of anger to them, but Jimmy sensed that Tunny’s anger was there just for the sake of being angry – because the teenage angst was expected of him. Johnny’s rage was more deeply rooted than that, but Jimmy didn’t know why (yet, he’d find out eventually). Will, on the other hand, was the soft one. He had the potential to have the same sarcasm and bite that his friends did, but probably  _ only  _ around said friends. Otherwise, Will was obviously the more quiet one, the one who would only speak up if spoken to, the one who’s everyone’s parents probably loved, the one who was just happy to be there, but also the one that was dorky in the most nerdy way possible. Will was the heart that brought (and kept) the three of them together, and kept them as sane as they possibly could be. 

Jimmy hadn’t talked to them yet, but he knew that his analyses weren’t wrong. The only thing he couldn’t quite figure out was what role  _ he _ was supposed to play in the mix. That was, if he was supposed to play one at all. 

As Jimmy neared the group, coming up directly behind Will, he caught the end of whatever Johnny had been saying. 

“...I  _ get it _ , Tuna, you–”

Jimmy decided to cut them off. “Your friend’s name is Tuna?” He asked, pretending he hadn’t been analyzing all three of them, pretending he hadn’t just memorized the names of the people he hadn’t yet interacted with. His sudden interruption got the attention of all of them, but it was enough to startle Will. It took a bit of Jimmy’s strength to not laugh at the way he jumped. 

“No. It’s Tunny. He just calls me that,” Tunny muttered. 

“Ah,” Jimmy nodded. He looked Tunny up and down, judging and calculating him some more, before his gaze landed on Johnny. “You know, it’s kind of rude to invite someone to eat lunch with you and then not tell them where you sit.”

Johnny scoffed. “Well, how could I? I got in trouble for talking during class, and then you were gone as soon as the class was over.”

“Mhm. You were gone way before class was over, though, to be fair,” Jimmy countered. When Johnny just stared at him, he reached over and tapped the side of Johnny’s head. “Lost in your own world,” he explained, before glancing back at Tunny and Will. “Does he do that often?”

“Space out?” Will asked, having recovered himself after the startle, nodding. “Yeah, kinda.”

“He’s either talking our ears off or in another dimension,” Tunny added on, earning a shove to the shoulder from Johnny, who was claiming that it wasn’t even true. 

Will stuck an arm out, in between his two friends, probably to stop them from murdering each other as Tunny had just swung right back at Johnny’s shoulder. “Uh,” he started, looking back towards Jimmy. “You wanna join us for lunch? There’s only, like, fifteen minutes left in the period, but…”

Jimmy almost said no, but he had three expectant pairs of eyes staring at him waiting for an answer. He didn’t have a problem saying no to anyone, he absolutely could’ve turned them down if he wanted to. He supposed that, deep down somewhere, he didn’t want to turn them down – or, perhaps, there was something about the way Johnny was looking at him in particular that made saying no a bit harder. “Sure,” he answered, hopping up into the bed of the truck and joining them. 

He ended up sitting between Johnny and Will, just because of the space that was available, and supposed that he couldn’t complain. He got a vibe that Tunny already wasn’t a huge fan of his existence, for some reason. But Jimmy was used to that, people tended to either absolutely adore him or despise him. 

Jimmy decided to spend the rest of the lunch period just observing. Johnny and Tunny argued back and forth about something, but it was all in lighthearted teasing. Will interjected when needed, which was actually a bit more than Jimmy had expected to see. It was also interesting to see just how many changes of topic they managed to get through in just fifteen minutes. 

“We should skip next block,” Johnny suggested, when their lunch block was over. “And before you say no, I have a good reason for it.”

“If your reasoning is  _ ‘I don’t want to,’ _ I don’t wanna hear it,” Tunny said, but he was still obviously willing to listen, judging by the way he didn’t make a move to get up and head back inside. 

Johnny shrugged, “I think that’s a valid reason, first of all, but that’s not my reason. My reason is that Jimmy was supposed to hang out with us for lunch and he wasn’t even here the whole block.”

Tunny looked like he wanted to say something, but he was clearly holding it back. Jimmy almost wanted to challenge him to say it, but Will beat him to speaking, “That’s not a fair reason without consulting Jimmy first. Maybe he came late because he didn’t want to listen to you argue for a half hour.”

Jimmy took that as his que to speak up. “I didn’t come because I had more important things to do,” he said simply. “But, if you’re so insistent on spending a portion of your time with me, I vote we go ahead and skip. It’s not like I wanted to be here anyway.”

A grin spread across Johnny’s face. “See, Jimmy gets it! Fuck school, we’re skipping next block. Me and the Saint are, at least. It’s up to y’all if you don’t want to, but if you go back into that building right now, we’re gonna spend the next half hour making fun of you.”

He hadn’t expected to be called Saint yet, it was still pretty early. Not that he was complaining, he preferred Saint to his real name anyway. 

Will and Tunny shared a look, briefly, before making the decision to skip along with them. 


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tunny shoved his hands into his pants pockets, “You know, maybe I regret telling Johnny to make more friends.”

Throughout the course of the period they skipped, Tunny decided that he didn’t like Jimmy. He usually chose not to dislike people without reason, and he would never go so far to say that he ‘hated’ someone, but then there was Jimmy. He didn’t know what it was, but it was there. 

Will seemed to pick up on it, the more that they sat there, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. “You okay?” Will asked him, while Jimmy and Johnny were distracted talking about something else. 

“Bad vibes,” Tunny answered simply, and Will already knew what that meant. 

Tunny tended to get vibes about people, and they tended to be right. Earlier on in their friendship, when his family had first moved to Jingletown and he first met Johnny and Will, they made fun of him.  _ “What are you, a psychic?” _ Johnny had teased. At this point, however, they seemed to almost turn to Tunny after having an interaction with someone new just to see how he felt about them. At least, Will did – Johnny usually listened and paid attention to what Tunny had to say, but he wouldn’t admit it. 

They’d asked Jimmy where he moved from a little bit ago and he’d said something about the city, which was what Johnny was going on about now. “You moved from the  _ city _ to  _ Jingletown,” _ he kept saying, “We’ve been trying to get out of here our entire lives. What would your parents want with this place anyway?” Tunny remembered getting a similar spiel when he moved here in elementary school, except he’d moved from a middle-of-nowhere town to an even  _ more _ middle-of-nowhere town. Tunny had said he didn’t know what his parents had been thinking and, to this very day, that still remained true. 

Jimmy, however, had an answer. “My therapist told my mom that it would be good for me to get out of the city, for some reason. They think that it’s the city causing my ‘problems,’ but then move me out  _ here _ and expect it to get better.”

Johnny laughed, “I remember when my mom made me go to therapy forever ago. It was so stupid.”   
  
“Right? They always say the same things,” Jimmy said, before mocking his therapist with air quotations, “ _ ‘You need better coping mechanisms,’ _ and  _ ‘drugs can’t fix everything,’ _ and  _ ‘you can’t fake your death after every minor inconvenience,’  _ and  _ ‘if you took this seriously, maybe you’d be doing better.’ _ Bullshit.”

For some reason, Johnny seemed to think it was funny. Maybe it was meant to be a joke, but it didn’t come off that way to Tunny. It was almost concerning, as much as he didn’t want it to be. “Are you, like, good?” Tunny ended up asking. 

Jimmy raised an eyebrow at him. “Do I look good?” he returned, which only served to raise some more concern, but Tunny didn’t have a chance to respond before they could hear the bell ring from inside the school. 

“Last period,” Will said, starting to get up. “I can’t miss it.”

“Have fun, art freak,” Johnny teased. “Saint, Tuna and I will be out here, making fun of you.”

“Actually,” Tunny corrected, “I’m going to class too.”

He, Will and Johnny had their last period together. It was an art class, yeah, but at least they had it together. Will was the only one that was actually any good at art. Tunny and Johnny would usually just sit there and watch him do his thing, then quickly scribble something on their papers to pretend they’d been working. Apparently, Johnny was going to abandon them this time. 

Johnny huffed, “Damn, okay. Saint and I will make fun of both of you, then.”

“Have fun,” Tunny returned, hopping out of the bed of his truck. He waited for Will to do the same, then the two of them headed towards the school building. 

Tunny shoved his hands into his pants pockets, “You know, maybe I regret telling Johnny to make more friends.”

Will shrugged. “I mean, it’s Johnny. It probably would’ve happened eventually anyway,” he pointed out. “Jimmy seems right up the alley of the type of people Johnny would want to be friends with.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He knew that Will was right, but it kind of sucked to actually admit it. After all, the three of them had been pretty much inseparable since fifth grade – and Johnny and Will had been inseparable for even longer. Now some new kid came around, and Johnny was willing to ditch his best friends for the new kid that he hardly knew. 

“It might not even last, anyway,” Will added. “If you’re getting weird vibes from him, something’s probably going to happen. Maybe Johnny will see it too.”

Tunny scoffed, throwing in a joke to lighten the topic of conversation, “Yeah, right. You do know who we’re talking about, right? He doesn’t know bad vibes until they slap him in the face.”

Will laughed. “Touché. And hardly then, either.”

  
  


Art went as usual. Will worked on his masterpiece and Tunny watched, then drew a stick figure when the teacher came by to see what they were working on. “Working very hard, aren’t we, Clarke?” she asked him, and Tunny offered a  _ ‘yes ma’am,’ _ even though everyone knew it wasn’t the case. The art teacher was cool, though, and didn’t seem to care. She just seemed to be glad that Tunny was respectful when he spoke to her. 

When school ended for the day, Will and Tunny waited in the hallways for Johnny. They waited until the hallway was  _ empty. _ He hadn’t come back for his backpack. Not that they were surprised, Johnny left without his backpack frequently as an excuse to not do homework – but he still would usually come to meet up with them so Tunny could drive the three of them back to Will’s house to hang out for a few hours. 

“Maybe he’s still out there with Jimmy?” Will suggested. 

“Yeah. Maybe,” Tunny agreed, as they turned to head out towards the parking lot. “I hope they understand that I will not be giving Jimmy a ride.”

Turns out he didn’t need to. When they made their way to his truck, the bed was empty. 


	4. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four of them existed together in silence, which was surprisingly comfortable even with the addition of a new member.

Will didn’t expect to wake up to Johnny hovering above him and Tunny, who had apparently fallen asleep on the couch at some point that night. He didn’t even remember falling asleep, but they had apparently passed out at some point while watching TV. Now, Johnny was standing over them and insisting they wake up. 

“How did you even get in?” Will mumbled, voice still deep with sleep, squinting against the harsh light of the TV.  _ “When _ did you come in?”

“You act like we haven’t been friends for, like, ever. I know where your spare key is,” Johnny said. “I’ve only been here for five minutes, but that’s four minutes longer than I wanted to spend trying to wake you guys up. I thought you were dead. Actually, Tunny might be.”

Tunny grumbled in response, as if to show a sign that he wasn’t, in fact, dead, but proceeded to bury his face into Will’s shoulder to shield his eyes from the TV screen (and perhaps to try and fall back asleep). 

Will yawned, rubbing his eyes, “What time is it?”

Johnny pulled his phone out of his pocket to check, “Uh, almost five. Get up already.”

Will groaned. It was too early. More often than not, he could hardly even muster the energy to get up for school every morning – his bed (or the couch, depending on how the night went) seemed more and more welcoming and comfortable the earlier in the day it got. Five in the morning, especially considering that he and Tunny hadn’t even gone to sleep until at  _ least  _ three, was way too early. 

But Johnny was persistent. “Come  _ ooooon.” _

_ “Why?”  _ Tunny whined back, managing to half-mock and half-match Johnny’s energy as well as he could for someone who was still half asleep. 

_ “Because,”  _ Johnny said, still whining, reaching over Will to shade Tunny again as if it would wake him up more. “Jimmy offered to buy us some shit from 7-Eleven if you’ll come with. He said he likes being up and doing things before school starts ‘cause otherwise he’ll sleep through class.”

Tunny shoved Johnny’s hand away. “Well  _ I’m  _ gonna end up sleeping through class if you don’t let me go the fuck back to sleep.”

Will was used to the sleepless nights, so he supposed he’d probably be fine, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be up so early. That didn’t matter, though, when Johnny was insistent on them getting up. He yawned, rubbing his eyes, “Did you even sleep at all, Jesus?”

Johnny shrugged, “A little. Me and Saint were hanging out. I think we fell asleep for a little bit, or at least I did, but then he dragged me outta bed and said we had to go do something. He promised me a Monster, so I gave in.”

Johnny actually following along with someone else’s ideas for once. That was new. 

Will forced himself to sit up, running a hand through his hair. Tunny groaned, because Will’s movement had practically forced him to sit up as well. 

“See? It’s not that bad,” Johnny teased them. “Now c’mon! Saint’s gotta super cool car. He also has a motorcycle, but he didn’t bring it this time because obviously four people can’t fit on one of those. But his car is pretty fuckin’ sweet too, and he said he’d buy  _ both  _ of you guys something. Even though he thinks Tunny hates him. Do you hate him, Tuna?”

“Jonathan, it is too early for this,” Tunny muttered. Johnny only waited expectantly, which made him sigh. “I don’t  _ hate _ him. I don’t think I  _ like  _ him, though.”

“Maybe him buying you a slurpee will change your mind,” Johnny said with a mischievous grin, grabbing both of his friends’ hands and pulling them up. 

Less than five minutes later, Will and Tunny found themselves in the back of Jimmy’s car. Johnny had been right, he did have a pretty cool car, but the two of them were in agreement that it wasn’t cool enough to have to get up so early to see it. Somehow, Jimmy seemed wide awake. He had loud rock music blaring from the speakers the entire time, yet he talked over it to hold a conversation with Johnny. If it weren’t for the music, Tunny probably would’ve attempted to go back to sleep – Will’s shoulder looked very inviting in the moment. Instead, however, he settled to look out the window and listen into Johnny and Jimmy’s conversation. 

“What do you guys like about 7-Eleven so much, anyway?” Jimmy asked. “You talk about it like it’s some immaculate place or something.”

Johnny laughed, “It  _ is _ immaculate, compared to literally everything else here. You’ll see.”

The nice thing about being at 7-Eleven (or, really, anywhere in Jingletown) at five in the morning was that it was completely empty. They didn’t have to wait in lines or deal with other people or any of the other annoying shit that came with being out in the middle of the day or late afternoon. Johnny was even able to get away with slipping a few packs of cigarettes into his jacket pocket without getting caught, because the sole employee was half asleep behind the register and wasn’t paying attention to anything else. 

Jimmy got a Red Bull, which Johnny made fun of him for because he insisted that Monster was superior. Will and Tunny got coffees, despite not actually quite liking the flavor of them, because they certainly wouldn’t survive the day without the extra caffeine. 

They ended up making the mutual decision to go loiter around the old playground at the park a few miles away from the school, because there wasn’t much else to do. It, like the 7-Eleven, was completely empty. Johnny let his inner child come out and he took over the swings, while Jimmy climbed his way up to the top of the jungle gym to smoke one of Johnny’s stolen cigarettes and watch the sunset. Tunny and Will sat on opposite sides of the merry-go-round. The four of them existed together in silence, which was surprisingly comfortable even with the addition of a new member. 

Nobody made a move to get up or speak until they realized it was almost six thirty, which Will was the one to point out as the resident responsible one, and then they all loaded back up into Jimmy’s car and made the drive to school. They all parted ways for the first few periods of classes, but they all came back together when it came time for band. 


	5. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re bad for my image,” Jimmy told them, as they made their way down the hall. “I can’t believe I’m hanging out with children.“

Jazz band was easily the favorite class all around. Not that any of them were particularly fans of jazz  _ music, _ but the jazz band was way smaller than the concert band and at least they weren’t stuck playing a traditional concert band instrument. Johnny played the guitar, Will played the bass, and Tunny alternated between drums and keyboard depending on what the director wanted. Now that Jimmy was added to the band, they had a second guitar player – but Jimmy played electric, as compared to Johnny’s acoustic. 

The only real complaint was how the band was laid out while in class, because Johnny (and now Jimmy, too) was in the middle of the room and Tunny and Will were separated on either sides of the room. The only times they’d get to communicate with each other were during breaks, if they got one that day, or if they were lucky enough to work on sectionals. The guitars naturally got paired together for those, and Tunny was always able to sneak away to whatever practice room Will and Johnny had chosen. Most sectionals ended without them having played much, but the three of them were good enough at their instruments that it wasn’t completely detrimental that they didn’t get that extra twenty minutes of practice. 

Today, however, was just a straightforward class. Johnny had made sure he got to sit in the chair right next to Jimmy this time, spouting off some nonsense about him being the only other guitar player who sat in that area so it was natural they sit next to each other (even though they were given different parts) when some of the woodwind players complained about him moving seats. They still weren’t able to talk much, because the class period was spent playing the instruments and Johnny actually somewhat respected the director, but he was at least able to explain the method of silent communication that he and his friends used. 

Even though Johnny was explaining all of it to him, Jimmy didn’t understand any of it. Their secret method of communication was something that came up with back in fifth grade, after getting in trouble for talking in class too many times. It was expanded on and developed within the last six years of their friendship, so naturally Jimmy was left confused. It was mostly just stupid commentary and gossip, purely for the sake of talking to one another anyway, so Jimmy really wasn’t missing out too much. 

The four of them met up when the bell rung, because Johnny and Jimmy’s next period class was along the way to Will and Tunny’s next class, so they walked the way there for as long as they could. It had only been a day, and not even really a  _ full  _ day, but they already seemed to have adapted to having Jimmy as a solid new part of their group (even if Tunny didn’t like it). 

“You’re bad for my image,” Jimmy told them, as they made their way down the hall. “I can’t believe I’m hanging out with children. I’m sacrificing my dignity for you guys.”

Johnny swatted at his shoulder, “We’re not even that much younger than you! Especially Will, he’s about to turn eighteen next month.”

“That doesn’t matter, high school is a class system. As a senior, I look stupid hanging out with a group of juniors.”

“As if you didn’t look stupid anyway,” Tunny muttered under his breath. He felt Jimmy glance his way, but nobody responded to his comment. Will almost did, but seemed to stop himself against better judgement. 

“Anyway,” Johnny said, once they reached the door to his class. “See you assholes at lunch.”

Will and Tunny proceeded on to their English class. The only real reason why Johnny wasn’t in that class with them was because they decided to take an advanced course, because last year's teachers pressured them into it. Will didn’t mind it, but Tunny hated it – too much reading. Usually, for the reading assignments, Tunny would use a website like SparkNotes and then check with Will to make sure he got something close enough to the right information. Not because Will was a particularly outstanding student, but because he would at  _ least _ skim through the actual book if he decided not to read it in full. 

Johnny and Jimmy were stuck in a health class. Johnny didn’t mind because he usually ended up zoning out and thinking about how he’d spend the rest of his day, rather than actively listening or paying attention. Jimmy snuck a earbud in to drown out the sound of the teacher talking about reproductive systems and scribbled some stuff in his notebook to reduce the risk of getting caught not paying attention. 

Their separate class went by quickly and painlessly enough, and then they met up in the hallway for lunch. Since Jimmy was the one who drove them, they didn’t have the bed of Tunny’s pickup truck to hang out in, but Jimmy insisted they sneak off to the roof of the school instead of just going back to his car. Somehow, for someone who had only been going to the school for a few days, Jimmy had managed to find the door to the roof and sneak all four of them up. 

“We should start hanging out up here more often,” Johnny said, sitting on the edge and letting his feet dangle off, simultaneously giving Will a heart attack. 

“Jesus, you are going to fall off of there,” he said, watching Johnny’s every move closely. 

“No I’m not,” Johnny insisted, swinging his legs. “I know what I’m doing.”

Jimmy sat down on the edge, too, right next to Johnny. “We might fall off,” he corrected. “But you know what? Live life on the edge.” 

Jimmy’s response made Johnny laugh. “Yeah,” he agreed,  _ “literally _ on the edge.”

Tunny rolled his eyes, “Or you guys could stop pretending you have death wishes and just sit like normal people. Because if either one of you falls off this roof, I’m just going to leave you.”

“Maybe we do have death wishes,” Jimmy pointed out, giving Tunny a pointed look. 

“I– Do you need to, like, talk to someone? We do have a guidance counselor, believe it or not,” Tunny muttered, Jimmy’s increasingly concerning comments causing his mom-mode to kick in.

“Funny you would offer, because I thought you hated me.” Jimmy returned, instead of answering the question. 

Will somehow managed to convince Johnny away from the edge, which was a miracle, while Jimmy and Tunny bickered back and forth (“I don’t hate anyone,” and then “So you don’t  _ like  _ me?” and then “Did I say that?” and then “No, but you conveyed it,” and they just kept going). Johnny and Will watched for a moment, before Johnny finally cut in. “Are you guys gonna kiss or something?” It earned him a glare from both of them, but it was worth it. 

“How about,” Will suggested, “we save the kissing, or whatever, for when you  _ aren’t _ that close to the edge of the roof. I don’t think the drop could actually kill you, unless you just fell wrong, but I don’t want to risk it.”

“Yeah,” Johnny added on, to everyone’s surprise. “You guys are our designated drivers, so if you fall off and break a leg or something then we can’t get anywhere and that’s not fair to me and Will because we’re responsible.”   
  


That led into another argument, this one between Johnny and Tunny, about how Johnny absolutely was not responsible, but it did at least get Jimmy away from the edge of the roof. 


	6. six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That wasn’t something Jimmy was used to.

If Jimmy learned anything after a week of hanging around Johnny, Will and Tunny, it was that he either didn’t know what a real dynamic between friends was supposed to look like or they were just weird as hell. Or maybe both. He was, surprisingly enough, invited over to Will’s house on Friday. He’d driven his motorcycle to school that day, so Johnny was the only one who accompanied him – Tunny and Will left in Tunny’s old beat up truck. It was an ugly truck, Jimmy thought, but Tunny always talked about it like it was his first born child and he was the most proud father on Earth. Weird. 

Johnny gave him directions from the back of his motorcycle. “By the way,” he said, “we don’t really go anywhere else until Sunday, unless we decide to go get food or pizza or some shit.”

That wasn’t something Jimmy was used to. Jimmy was active – not in an athletic sense, but in the sense that he couldn’t just sit down and not do anything all weekend. When he and his mom lived in the city, he spent his weekends out on the streets. Buying drugs, using drugs, selling drugs, whatever. Anything to keep him out of the house and busy. But now that they lived in Jingletown, there wasn’t really anything he  _ could  _ do. He could probably get away with buying and selling and using drugs, but he figured it’d be less easy to stay inconspicuous when the town was so small that everyone knew everyone. 

“Really?” Jimmy asked. “What do you even do all day?”

“Video games, shit talk, drink, smoke,” Johnny shrugged. “Y’know, whatever. That’s his house right there, by the way. To the left.”

Will and Tunny had beat them there, which was natural. They’d left the parking lot first, and Johnny may or may not have given Jimmy directions for the long way there simply because he liked riding on the back of the motorcycle. 

“Did we not drive past that earlier?” Jimmy asked him. 

“Perhaps,” Johnny shrugged. 

Jimmy scoffed at him, pulling into the driveway of the Espers’ house. They got off his motorcycle and Johnny led them inside. He didn’t bother to knock, because Will and Tunny knew they were coming and because Will’s parents had said that his friends were welcome over anytime. 

Tunny and Will were already at work building something in minecraft from the xbox in Will’s basement. It was a shared server that all three of them had been working on since middle school, they still hadn’t beat the game but at this point it was less about trying to beat the game and more about trying to fill the world with cool buildings and stuff. 

“You ever played Minecraft?” Johnny asked Jimmy, as he hopped over the back of the couch and landed in between his two other friends. 

Jimmy took a seat on one of the beanbag chairs strewn around the room. “No,” he answered simply. He wasn’t a gamer. 

Johnny tossed him a controller and picked up his own. “It’s pretty easy. Basically you just build stuff and try not to die. Since you’re a beginner, you won’t have any armor, so you’ll just have to stay inside and stuff at nighttime.”

“Why?”

“‘Cause the monsters will come out and kill you.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. “Monsters,” he repeated. 

Will answered for him, “Yeah, there are monsters that only come out at night. There’s skeletons and zombies and creepers and spiders and shit. You have to either fight them or sleep through the night, but in this case you can just hide out in one of the buildings we have.”

“That’s boring,” Jimmy stated. “Why would I spend my time hiding?”

“‘Cause you’ll die,” Johnny said. 

He and Jimmy had loaded into the game. Because of how frequently they played, Johnny spawned in near where they’ve been building. Jimmy, however, found himself in the middle of a grassy nowhere. Go figure. “Where am I?” he asked. 

“Uhhh…” Johnny glanced at Jimmy’s side of the screen. “just keep walking straight. You’re kinda far but you’re right across from our castle.”

Jimmy nodded, but decided against following the directions anyway. Instead, he decided to go off towards the left. They played in silence for a while, Jimmy wandering and the other three building (or whatever it was they were doing, Jimmy didn’t know). Then the screen started to get dark, signifying night time. 

“You should probably hide now,” Tunny suggested. 

“No. That’s boring,” Jimmy returned. He grinned to himself when he heard Tunny’s exasperated sigh. 

“Die, then,” he muttered. 

“Gladly,” Jimmy responded, simply to frustrate Tunny further. It didn’t take long before he  _ did _ get killed. Some weird white thing was shooting arrows at him, and he didn’t know the controls to fight back so he just stood there until he ran out of hearts. Then he respawned, but proceeded to get killed again within only a few minutes of it. “Where is the fun in this game?”

Tunny rolled his eyes, “You know, maybe if you actually listened and hid, you’d understand.”

Jimmy turned his attention away from the screen, looking over at the other three. They were all practically glued to the screen, paying attention to whatever they were doing. Fighting monsters, apparently. “Because hiding is so fun,” he muttered. 

Nobody responded to that. Which was fair, he supposed, considering that it was just a sarcastic comment meant to be annoying anyway. He watched them play for a bit, at least until it wasn’t nighttime anymore, and then ended up fucking around until he found a few red blocks of TNT that were conveniently placed near one of the buildings that had been built at one point. 

Johnny happened to glance over at Jimmy’s screen at just the right time. “That is TNT,” he stated, very Captain Obvious-like. 

“Yeah, so don’t touch it,” Tunny added. 

Naturally, Jimmy touched it. 

  
  


———

  
  


When it came time to go to bed, that was when the real weirdness set in, at least for Jimmy. They pulled out the couch bed, and Johnny offered Jimmy a spot between him and Will, but he turned it down. So he was stuck in the not-very-comfortable bean bag chair while the others practically formed a cuddle pile on the couch. 

That was the first thing Jimmy found weird, past the fact that they liked to play video games all day. He wasn’t a cuddler. Not with romantic/sexual partners, but  _ especially  _ not with people that were just friends. Johnny, Will, and Tunny seemed to be beyond comfortable with it, though. With how close they were all cuddled up, there really was enough room for at least one other person, but Jimmy could not deal with that. 

The second thing he found weird was what happened after they got situated in their little cuddle pile. Will reached over to grab the TV remote, clicking off of the xbox and onto regular cable. Then, the bickering started. They bickered over what channel to watch and how loud to keep the volume. At one point in the argument, Will just seemed to give up his side and suggest that they let Jimmy pick the channel, but both Johnny and Tunny had a debate to that. So the bickering continued. In the end, they ended up with the TV set to Spike TV (and Jimmy only knew that because it said so in the corner of the screen), and they only ended up with it there because Johnny had snatched the remote, changed the channel, and then threw the remote across the room so that someone would have to get up if they wanted to change it again. Apparently, it wasn’t a huge deal anymore. 

The third thing was that even though they’d all just been arguing not even a minute ago, they were able to settle back into a calm(ish) normalcy shortly after. Once Johnny had thrown the remote, Tunny swatted him with a pillow, the two of them had a brief quarrel and then when Will shushed them, it all stopped. Then, despite the arguments and hitting and yelling, they cozied back up into their cuddle pile and watched TV. 

The fourth thing was that, again, despite the argument over the TV channel, they talked through the show anyway. They made fun of it, or discussed something that was happening on it, or brought up something completely different – but either way, they talked through it. Jimmy didn’t have anything to add, especially since he was still just kind of weirded out by this new dynamic he was surrounded in, so he only sat and listened. 

The fifth thing was that falling asleep in front of each other wasn’t weird for them. Tunny was out first. Jimmy didn’t even know when Tunny fell asleep, he just noticed that Tunny had started offering responses less and less and then, the next time he looked over at the couch, Tunny was asleep. Will and Johnny seemed to have made the conscious decision to go to sleep about a half hour after Jimmy noticed that Tunny was asleep. They had come to the agreement that Tunny would be up before either of them anyway, so if they went to sleep now they’d sleep in less late and then they’d keep Tunny waiting for less long. 

“G’night, Jesus,” Will mumbled. 

“Night, dumbass,” Johnny returned, punctuating the end of his sentence with a playful kiss to Will’s cheek. That was the sixth and final weird thing to Jimmy. “Night, Saint, if you’re still awake.”

Jimmy didn’t respond. He decided to just pretend that he’d fallen asleep already. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jimmy voice: what are friends


	7. seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They thought he was joking. Then they made the mistake of letting Jimmy drive them to school the next day, meaning they couldn’t leave without auditioning.

“I’m auditioning for the school’s musical tomorrow,” Jimmy proclaimed on Tuesday during lunch. Tunny and Johnny had been bickering about something, because of course they were (Jimmy had grown used to it by now), but they stopped as soon as he said that. “And you guys are auditioning with me.”

“Our school even  _ does  _ musicals?” Johnny asked. That wasn’t something he was interested in, so he didn’t bother to even pay attention to see if it was a thing their school offered. 

“They just started last year, remember? They did  _ Sound of Music  _ or some shit,” Will said. “But anyway, I can’t act, so it’s probably not a great idea for me to audition.”

“And I don’t  _ want _ to act, so,” Tunny offered, with a half-hearted shrug. 

Jimmy mocked the shrug right back at him. “It wasn’t a suggestion,” he said, speaking to all three of them but keeping his eyes locked on Tunny. They still hadn’t gotten over their weird rivalry phase and, at this point, it seemed like they just weren’t going to. “It’s what’s happening, I already signed all of you up. So you guys better pick an audition song.”

They thought he was joking. Then they made the mistake of letting Jimmy drive them to school the next day, meaning they couldn’t leave without auditioning. 

Tunny was pissed. “Fine,” he huffed. “Fuck you. I’ll just walk home.”

“I’ll call your mom and tell her you’re doing drugs,” Jimmy countered, clearly not bothered. “I have the means of creating fake evidence, too, so don’t test me.”

So they auditioned. All four of them. The good thing was that they all could sing, and the director didn’t bother with monologues or having them read scenes. The other good thing was that the auditions were done in front of everyone else there, meaning they were able to scope out talent and could already make a guess on whether they’d get cast or not. Also because of this, Johnny made eye contact with the love of his life – and Jimmy made eye contact with his new sworn enemy. 

Her name was Rebecca, she was a senior and yet somehow Johnny had never seen her before. Johnny didn’t care about acting, he didn’t even know what the musical was  _ called,  _ but in that moment he made the decision that he wanted to have a good audition just to get a chance to be around her. Similarly, Jimmy also knew he needed a good audition, but his intentions were purely to be better than her. He needed that attention, frankly, and he also didn’t like the way Johnny was looking at her, already head over heels in love despite having not said one sentence to her. 

It turned out that all of them had at least a decent audition, because when the cast list came out on Friday, all of them were on it. Jimmy’s and Johnny’s were up at the top, right with Rebecca’s. Will’s and Tunny’s were a bit lower down, but were still there. 

Jimmy was the only one who actually knew about the characters they were playing. In fact, the other three  _ still _ didn’t even know the name of the show until they were given their librettos. 

_ “Spring Awakening?” _ Johnny muttered. “That sounds boring as hell. What are we, flowers?” 

Tunny laughed. “For real. This shit’s going to suck. Why’d you make us do this again?”

They were headed out to the parking lot, ready to leave for the weekend. They’d already talked about plans to go to Will’s as they usually did, but Jimmy (once again the driver for today) had other plans. “Because all you guys ever do is sit around and play video games, and I don’t like doing that,” he answered. “Besides, the name is a metaphor. And it’s a rock musical, so you guys are in your element.”

Johnny grinned, “A rock musical? So that means that, uh.. Whatsername, she must like rock music too.”

“Rebecca,” Will said. “Her name is Rebecca.”

“Whatever,” Jimmy waved Will off. “Doesn’t mean she likes rock music, she just auditioned. She wasn’t even that good.”

“I thought she was good,” Johnny said. “And I think she likes rock music too. She looks cool. She looks like she listens to rock music.”

They piled into Jimmy’s car. Tunny was the first one to notice that they were not driving towards Will’s house or the 7-Eleven. “Uh, where are we going?” he asked. 

Will, who had been skimming through the libretto out of curiosity, popped his head up. They were, indeed, not going the right way. 

“Wait, this is the way to your house,” Johnny noticed, glancing over to Jimmy. He was the only one that Jimmy allowed to sit in the passenger seat. 

“Ding ding, we have a winner. Glad you know directions, Jesus,” Jimmy responded. “We’re going to my house because we're going to watch the show. Obviously none of you know what you’re doing, you should go in with at least  _ some _ knowledge and I don’t have the patience to explain the plot to you. So we're going to watch it.”

Tunny groaned dramatically from the backseat, and Jimmy turned his music up even louder to drown him out. Johnny cackled. 

  
  


———

Jimmy’s mom wasn’t home. She was out of town for the weekend, he told them, so they had the house to themselves. “But don’t trash it,” he said quickly after announcing that it would just be them. “She can’t stand messes and then will lecture me about how leaving rooms a mess is bad for my mental health or some shit and then she’ll take me right back to a therapist.”

They made popcorn and stole some snacks from the fridge and cabinets – Jimmy’s mom got the  _ good _ stuff from an actual store rather than whatever they could grab from 7-Eleven – then claimed seats in the living room. It was like an impromptu movie night, except Jimmy was pulling up a bootleg off of YouTube on their smart TV. They lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods, not that anything in Jingletown was particularly  _ nice,  _ but it was certainly better than the neighborhood Will and Tunny lived in and the one right next to it, where Johnny lived. 

“That’s Wendla,” Jimmy said, once the musical started. “That’s who Rebecca’s playing, for some reason.”

“Song’s boring. Are you sure this is rock?” Tunny muttered. Jimmy shushed him but didn’t offer an answer. 

As they continued on, Jimmy pointed out the character that he was playing. Will was attempting to follow along with the libretto, reading the lines and lyrics as they were said and sung. “Milky Whore?” he asked, attempting to read the character name, which cracked Johnny and Tunny up but frustrated Jimmy. 

_ “Melchior,”  _ he corrected. “They’re German. Learn how to read. Now shut up. That one’s you, Johnny.”

“Asleep in class, at least it fits,” Tunny pointed out. Johnny threw a pillow at him. 

Tunny and Will didn’t have much to say about their characters, who were apparently named Hanschen and Ernst, until later on in the show when they kissed each other. “We have to kiss onstage in front of people?” Will asked. “My mom’s going to want to come watch.”

“Please,” Jimmy muttered. “The three of you kiss each other often enough that your mom should be used to it.”

“We don’t hang out around my mom,” Will pointed out. 

“Tunny does,” Johnny chimed in. He’d been quiet ever since the demise of his character. “Tunny loves Will’s mom.”

Tunny groaned, “We have been over this. I do not love Will’s mom. She’s just nice and the only one around to talk to when you guys sleep in until, like, two.”

It almost turned into an argument, but Jimmy shushed them again. 

Overall, despite the fact that Tunny refused to admit it, they actually didn’t hate the show. Johnny got lost a few times, and Will only was able to stay with it fully because he kept the libretto opened on his lap, but it wasn’t hell to sit through and watch like they’d been afraid it would be. 

Performing in it, however, would be something entirely different. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enter: whatsername. also, jimmy is a theatre kid confirmed. 
> 
> (also the milky whore thing is a joke with some of my online friends and i so i had to include it even tho they aren’t reading this don’t mind me)


	8. eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday was the first day of rehearsal. It went as well as a first rehearsal with a cast like theirs could go.

Johnny, Will and Tunny left on Saturday. Jimmy dropped them off at Will’s house. He had ‘things to do’ that weekend, apparently, and the three of them weren’t allowed to be around while he did them. They were fine with it – they just went back to their usual weekend plans. 

“Man,” Johnny said, as they made their way down to the basement. “I still can’t believe y’all have to kiss in this stupid show. That’s so funny.”

“Shut the hell up,” Tunny groaned. “I don’t even want to be in it at  _ all.  _ Did you guys not see how badly I was trying to not get cast?”

“No, we saw,” Will said, flopping down on the couch. “That vibrato was… something.”

Johnny laughed, taking his place next to Will, sitting on the edge of the arm rest. “Yeah, you sounded like a dying duck. A  _ gay _ dying duck, apparently.”

Tunny shoved him off of the arm rest as he walked past, dropping himself on the opposite side of Will. “I really thought I’d gotten free.”

After recovering himself from being pushed on the floor by draping himself across his two best friends’ laps with his head on Tunny's lap specifically, Johnny grinned at him, “You’ll never be free of us, Tuna. No matter how hard you try. Even if you die, or something, Will and I’ll follow right after you.”

“Fuck. I’m damned from beyond the grave,” Tunny returned, reaching to grab one of the Xbox controllers as Will turned on the TV and console. “Cursed with you shitheads forever.”

Johnny settled to just lay there and watch them play Left 4 Dead together, offering up comments as their professional cheerleader (and also being Captain Obvious by telling them whenever they made a stupid move or missed). That was how the rest of their weekend went, too – as usual, playing video games, drinking and smoking, the usual. None of them touched their librettos or even put any thought towards the show again, until Monday. 

———

Monday was the first day of rehearsal. It went as well as a first rehearsal with a cast like theirs could go. 

Jimmy and Rebecca, as expected, put their all into it – but only when acting. When it came time to interact with one another outside of following the script, it was all short and snippy and only because as the leads, they  _ had _ to interact and try to fake some kind of onstage chemistry. Nobody knew why they already disliked each other so much, but there wasn't really anything they could do to fix it now. 

Johnny actually tried to do decently, which was saying something for him. Maybe it was solely to impress Rebecca, maybe it was because being on stage and having attention on him was something he enjoyed more than he expected to, maybe it was both. Regardless, he did pretty well. Both Jimmy and the director were impressed, but the director was the only one to actually offer up a compliment. 

Tunny didn’t try at all. He read his lines out because that was expected of him, but that was about it. The director had to keep reminding him to speak with emotion, because right then he was acting and sounding like a monotonous robot. Despite that, it was pretty obvious that if he were to actually try, he would be among some of the better actors in the cast. 

Will tried, and did decently. He couldn’t remember his lines for the life of him, though, which meant that he spent every single scene with his head buried in the libretto. It wasn’t a problem yet, because it was just the first rehearsal, but it could become one if the whole not-remembering thing would be a common theme. 

The rest of the cast was fine. Some cared, some didn’t. Some tried, some didn’t. By the end of the day, the poor director looked like he wanted to rip all of his hair out. “I will see you on Wednesday,” was all he said when dismissing everyone after rehearsal. 

“Thank god,” Tunny muttered, immediately heading out the door. Will paused briefly before following after him and a small group of freshmen. 

Johnny, however, waited for both Jimmy and Rebecca. He still hadn’t gotten a chance to actually talk to Rebecca, which was a surprise with how much he wanted to. “You guys did great today,” he said to both of them, acting like he knew what he was talking about. The acting part was out of his comfort zone, and they hadn’t even gotten to the learning the music stage yet – so he was really just pulling that compliment out simply to talk to Rebecca. 

Rebecca had been packing up her backpack and looked almost startled, briefly, to be spoken to. She smiled at him though, swinging the bag over her shoulder. “Thanks. For someone who’s never acted before, you did too,” she responded. 

Jimmy didn’t have a response. He gave Rebecca the stink eye the whole time. 

Johnny didn’t seem to notice. “Maybe we could hang out sometime. And, like, practice together. Or something.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, but ended up nodding anyway. She didn’t have the heart to point out that their characters don’t interact for anything other than a song at the very end. “Sure. How about after school tomorrow, since we don’t have rehearsal anyway?”

“Yeah. Sure,” he nodded. He hadn’t expected it to be that easy. 

“Great! See you then. Gotta go, my friends are waiting,” Rebecca said, gesturing towards where Heather, Christina and a girl Johnny had never spoken to named Alysha stood. She waved to him, then caught up with her friends. 

Just in time for Jimmy to catch up with him. “Why are you talking to her? She’s not a good person.”

“She’s pretty. And she’s cool,” Johnny shrugged, adjusting his backpack over his shoulder as the two of them headed out to the parking lot. Tunny and Will had already left, which was fine – Johnny had said he was going over to Jimmy’s house after rehearsal always. “We’re gonna hang out after school tomorrow.”

Jimmy scoffed. “Really? And do what?”

“Uhhh, rehearse?” 

Unlike Rebecca, Jimmy didn’t care. “Your characters don’t even speak to each other, so good luck with that.”

“Oh,” Johnny mumbled. He shrugged, “Well, she agreed to hang out anyway, so I guess she doesn’t care. Maybe she thinks I’m cool and just wants to hang out with me.”

“Doubt it. She’s not that kind of person. She’s probably just going to use you for something. I don’t like her for a reason,” Jimmy said simply, getting into his motorcycle. “Now stop talking about  _ girls _ and come on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow that was like the longest break i’ve taken from writing chapters that was odd 
> 
> i’ve been caught up with rehearsals of my own i apologize 😔


End file.
